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TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – Local developer Andy Todd’s daughters cut the ribbon Sunday on a section of land that will connect the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail between Lyndhurst and Gracemere Park in Tarrytown.

Todd, owner of Greystone on Hudson, made a donation to restore the area, which had become overgrown. For the last month, the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail State Park Manager, Garry Ricci, and Park workers Jeff Litwinowicz and Jenn Sylvestri cleaned the park up to make it accessible to hikers traversing the more than 26-mile trail.

“This is significant because there tends to be a certain number of disconnects in the aqueduct trail,” Ricci said. “Any time a section can be reopened to the public it’s always a benefit to the trail users.”

Those celebrating the reopening Sunday walked from Lyndhurst, where Todd was given a proclamation, across the street to the revitalized park.

“We today recognize that we need to preserve open space and let people get out and walk and see the beauty of Westchester,” said state Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti (D-Greenburgh), who represents the 92nd Assembly District. “And now we’re going to repurpose what was done so many years ago.”

The park runs from Van Cortlandt Park at the border of the Bronx and Yonkers to the Croton Dam in Cortlandt. It supplied hundreds of millions of gallons of water a day to New York City until 1965.

In 1968, 26.2 miles of the original 41 mile-aqueduct was bought by the state office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and was later awarded National Historic Landmark Status.

Linda Cooper, regional director for the state office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said linking this trail makes “a great trail event better.”